Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press
Middletown resident April Fawn Scheller chained herself to a tree outside of Middlesex Superior Court in Middletown at 1:08 p.m. Tuesday afternoon as part of the "Mad pride" movement. Scheller and a small number of local supporters disapprove the abusive treatment of people with developmental and psych disabilities, including discrimination through the insanity defense, involuntary detention, and forced electroshock therapy. Middletown police and court marshalls agreed to allow Scheller to stay chained to the tree and protest peacefully. less

Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press
Middletown resident April Fawn Scheller chained herself to a tree outside of Middlesex Superior Court in Middletown at 1:08 p.m. Tuesday afternoon as part of the ... more

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Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press
Middletown resident April Fawn Scheller chained herself to a tree outside of Middlesex Superior Court in Middletown at 1:08 p.m. Tuesday afternoon as part of the "Mad pride" movement. Scheller and a small number of local supporters disapprove the abusive treatment of people with developmental and psych disabilities, including discrimination through the insanity defense, involuntary detention, and forced electroshock therapy. Middletown police and court marshalls agreed to allow Scheller to stay chained to the tree and protest peacefully. less

Catherine Avalone/The Middletown Press
Middletown resident April Fawn Scheller chained herself to a tree outside of Middlesex Superior Court in Middletown at 1:08 p.m. Tuesday afternoon as part of the ... more

MIDDLETOWN >> A self-described "Mad Pride" advocate chained herself to a tree outside the county courthouse Tuesday afternoon to protest use of insanity as a criminal defense and other issues pertaining to mental health.

April Fawn Scheller, 32, of Middletown, padlocked herself to a courthouse tree minutes after 1 p.m. and remained there through the afternoon, declaring that she intended to stay for "a while." Supporters came and went, including Wesleyan students and other Mad Pride advocates. Scheller, an unemployed dishwasher, is protesting what she sees as discriminatory practices by courts and law enforcement officials against suspects and defendants with mental illnesses.

Hours into the demonstration, Scheller described herself as "shaken up," and said that "it's just been a very emotional time, but I've got to say I'm glad I'm here."

Scheller said her demonstration is in order to obtain equal rights and treatment for mental illness patients and that public safety officials and courts discriminate against them.

"If you're expressing yourself in a different way, if you're expressing your distress you can be locked up based on somebody's suspicion of you," said Scheller. She said "I get locked up a lot--I don't know how many times--not in a few years, though."

Despite the lockups, Schelling said she has never been accused of or charged with a crime, and she has no convictions or pending cases in Connecticut, according to court records.

In a statement on her website freespeechwhensane.wordpress.com, Scheller said she is opposed to "the segregate denial of legal status to all of us perceived as having mental disabilities who wish to exercise constitutional rights whether we chose to use or refuse meds and other segregate treatments."

She said "If I am detained I ask that I be sent to prison and though I am Mad (sic) retain my legal status on par with the normal majority, to be accepted as competent to stand trial and to be adjudicated guilty or not guilty without any diversion to the mental health system."

Vic Lancia, another "Mad Pride" advocate, said he was sitting in on the protest "to support April and what she stands for." He said people with mental illnesses suffer discrimination and bullying.

"People are vulnerable, people are fragile," said Lancia.

As of Tuesday afternoon, neither court officials nor police said they anticipated detaining Scheller. A court employee told the Press that a judge had instructed the marshals to leave her be, and police confirmed that the non-violent protest was not considered a nuisance.

In Connecticut, when a defendant is determined to have committed a crime as charged by the state, the jury may acquit the defendant if the defendant lacks the capacity to determine whether what he or she did was wrong or could not control his or her actions on account of a mental disease or defect.

Lt. Heather Desmond, a police spokeswoman, said officers are sensitive to possible mental illnesses in suspects. She said officers take specialized training to learn how to approach suspects with mental illnesses or disorders through the Connecticut Alliance to Benefit Law Enforcement and through other agencies. According to their website, CABLE provides training not only for dealing with suspects in "psychiatric crisis," but also for "peer support" for law enforcement personnel dealing with emotionally trying circumstances.

One of the cornerstones of training is how to approach suspects who are attempting "suicide by cop."

"There are members of the community with mental health issues and we try to work with them as best we can, and try to respect them," said Desmond. "But we also have to uphold the law and make sure that everyone else is safe too. Most of the time, it's not an issue."